Cairn 90m SSE of the Ordnance Survey triangulation point on Beacon Hill

A Scheduled Monument in West Quantoxhead, Somerset

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Details

The monument includes a cairn on the crest of the south side of Beacon Hill at
the north west end of the Quantocks. The cairn forms part of a wider mixed
cemetery on the hill which includes two barrows and three cairns.
The cairn has a mound 5.5m in diameter and 0.7m high. It was first identified
by A T Wicks in the 1930s.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The area of the Quantock Hills, although small in extent, is one of the few
remaining expanses of open moorland in southern Britain. Its archaeological
importance lies in the existence of a landscape displaying examples of
monuments tracing the exploitation of the hills from the Bronze Age onwards.
Well-preserved monuments from the Bronze Age and Iron Age, including round
barrows, cairns, settlements, hillforts and a trackway, as well as later
industrial remains, give insights into changes in the pattern of land use on
the hills through time. These earthwork features are one of the key components
of the Quantocks' broader landscape character.
Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age
(c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, the latter
predominating in areas of upland Britain where such raw materials were locally
available in abundance. Round cairns may cover single or multiple burials and
are sometimes surrounded by an outer ditch. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major visual element in the modern landscape. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide
important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation
amongst early prehistoric communities. Twelve round cairns have been recorded
on the Quantocks, although the original figure is likely to have been higher.
They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial
proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The cairn on Beacon Hill is integral to the wider mixed cemetery and will
contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to it and
the landscape in which it was constructed.

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